[wyldfire]

IMO the game has been designed to fix those balance problems. There's various subsets of cards that are legal in tournament play and I think only "Legacy" includes all of the original cards. I used to occasionally attend new set release weekends and play some sealed duels or some 2HG with a buddy. It's a good time - you get a box with a few boosters and some time to craft your deck.

[virtue3]

IMHO draft tournaments for "friday night magic" if that's still a thing were significantly better and more fun cuz of this.

[yamazakiwi]

Drafts for new set releases are definitely some of my fondest memories.

Everyone opening new cards with no idea what they're going to get. You had to be extremely adaptable and there were different strategies to employ within the metagame of the format.